‘Luminaire of the Future’ aims to revolutionise European lighting industry by 2020

As part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 work programme, the Repro-light project (Re-usable and re-configurable parts for sustainable LED-based lighting systems) aspires to successfully initiate a transformation in the European LED lighting industry. The €4.3 million project will harness innovative technologies and materials to implement a never before attempted modular luminaire architecture and a smart production scheme, as well as the development of a reconfigurable customised LED fitment, the ‘Luminaire of the Future’.

The LED market is currently mid-transformation, shifting its focus from energy efficiency to function values. The Repro-light project is timed to capitalise on and lead this transformation: it is set to change the reputation of the LED luminaire from a disposable object into a customisable and sustainable product.

By developing an intelligent LED-based luminaire with a modular, stackable architecture the project seeks to change the industry’s view of the LED luminaire as a generic, disposable object into a customized product with high functional value. The aim is to minimise or eliminate wiring and make luminaires “stackable.” The modular design and the development of a smart production scheme should substantially reduce costs and manufacture time as well as environmental impact.

Led by representatives and driving forces from the European lighting industry, as well as manufacturers, experts on lighting sustainability and the Social Sciences, the Repro-light consortium possesses the excellence and the influence to not only execute this project successfully, but also invoke a sustainable change in the European lighting industry beyond the lifetime of the project.

The consortium is made up of leading European experts from manufacturers and designers including Trilux, BJB, Grado Zero Espace, Rohner Engineering, Bartenbach and Luger Research, as well as lighting sustainability and lifecycle assessment specialists IREC and Spain’s Mondragon University.

The need for projects like Repro-light has been highlighted in several recent white papers, including Serviceable Luminaires in a Circular Economy published by the European Lighting Association. This white paper highlights the value of a circular economy, and it is just such an economy the ‘Luminaire of the Future’ is designed to be part of.

The project’s first phase, which is already under way, will focus on analysing the customer needs and technical requirements. It will be finished by March 2018.